


A Place to call Home

by AnitaB



Series: Avengers Fluffidom [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F, Families of Choice, Family Fluff, M/M, Romantic Feels, future fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-03-03 19:17:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2876465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnitaB/pseuds/AnitaB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a fluffy future fic of a family nature.  The Avengers tower is way more than a strategic building or a meeting place of the world's greatest heroes.  It's a home, full of love, family and safety.  And Natasha couldn't be happier about every little bit of it.  (Clint/Natasha, Steve/Bucky, and Pepper/Tony). Chapter three, newly added, in which sometimes Natasha is absolutely certain that her tiny red-headed girl is going to rule the world.  Soon the girl might get a little competition.  There's a little bit of Pepper/Tony in this chapter too. Avengers Family Fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Title: A place to call home  
Author: AnitaB  
Author's notes: I own nothing from the Marvel Comic movie universe. No money was made and no infringement intended. 

This is a fluffy future fic of a family nature. The Avengers tower is way more than a strategic building or a meeting place of the world's greatest heroes. It's a home, full of love, family and safety. And Natasha couldn't be happier about every little bit of it. 

A place to call home  
by AnitaB

She'd always been a light sleeper. When you're a spy and an assassin from childhood, being caught unawares could carry a death sentence. Now, though… really for the last several years, she spent most of her nights in places of friendship, love, and safety. Wrapped in blankets and Clint's arms, she really should have completely lost the ability to wake at any sound and be completely aware of her surroundings.

It did still come in handy, though. "Go back to sleep, Clint. It's my turn." It proved just a little difficult to worm her way out of Clint's arms until after she'd given him a kiss. Natasha dragged herself out of the bed to move quickly and quietly down the hall to the next door. Even before she opened it, she could hear a soft but regular thumping sound interspersed with giggling. //That's my silly girl.\\\ 

"Mama," Katya had her mother wrapped around tiny fingers. And that little girl was holding onto the edge of her crib with both hands to jump up and down. The Captain America bear that usually kept her company was on the floor at the foot of the dresser. The metallic clink of its shield against the drawer handles must have been the sound that woke her. "Mama, pwease…" The tiny fingers in question started pointing at the top of that dresser as the bouncing continued. "Unca Buck, Unca Buck, Unca Buck." 

Of course. Natasha's little princess adored her uncles. And those tall, strong men were even more wrapped around the tiny fingers of that two year old than her parents were. //Maybe,\\\ Natasha gave her baby girl a helpless smile and retrieved the item before approaching the crib. "Morning, baby girl. Did you want this?" 

A sweet smile and another bounce and giggle were her only answer until a tiny hand thrust out in demand. Natasha worked the silver cloth up a little arm to fasten a strap over a shoulder and around tiny ribs. Her daughter's favorite piece of clothing had started out as part of a princess costume. The long glove now had a Captain America shield patch and a harness hand-stitched on to position it exactly where that image was placed on Bucky's metal shoulder. When the buckle was fastened, the girl promptly climbed up the side of her crib and into her mother's arms for a hug and a kiss. Katya tucked in close before pointing to the floor with a demand. "Stevba, mama…" 

"If you didn't want your Steve-Bear on the floor, then why did you throw him?" Natasha loved the puppy eyes Katya gave her. They reminded her of Clint's. 

Tiny arms wrapped tight around her neck in the moment before Katya planted a few smacking kisses on her cheek. "Stevba, pwease, mama… pwease…" 

Like she could ever say no to those eyes and that sweet face. Natasha shifted her grip to dangle the little giggling girl upside down by one ankle right above the teddy bear. "Go on, sweetie, rescue the cap." Silver covered fingers reached down, slow and dramatic, before hooking through the shoulder strap of the bear's uniform in a tight grip. "Ya got him?"

"Yup, yup." A childish giggle blended into a shockingly good impression of, unshockingly enough, Captain America. "Go for wetweival." She reeled her daughter up and inward until a diapered baby butt rested on her hip and red hair curled against her shoulder. The Captain America bear was trapped safely between them, wrapped in a silver arm. "Daddy awake?" 

"Daddy got home late. Do we want to get him out of bed?" 

Red hair fell sideways as the little girl thought about it with a tilted head, then flew as she shook her head. "Daddy kisses n cartoons." 

"That sounds perfect." Natasha settled the little girl closer and headed back to the bedroom. At the foot of the bed, Katya wriggled down to the blankets and crawled up the length of her father's body to sprawl with a contented sigh across his back. Natasha understood completely. There was no safer or more comfortable place in the world than right against the muscles and heart of one Clint Barton. 

"Hmm, is that my princess?" Clint somehow turned to pull Katya in against his chest without letting the little girl slide off the sheets. Tiny arms wrapped around his neck before even tinier lips planted a smacking kiss on his cheek. Nothing in the entire world set her heart racing like the sight of the two most important people in her life smiling and happy and safe. "Yup, that's my princess. Morning, baby girl." Clint cuddled his girl tight and kissed a path from a the curve of a cheek to blow raspberries on her belly. He curled little silver fingers into a fist and mimed several punches into his cheek and a kick to his ribs all while the little fighter in question started laughing hard enough to edge into a childish scream. 

"Daddy, daddy, pweeaasee…" 

Natasha watched with a helpless tightness in her chest as her husband nuzzled his face against a tiny neck and breathed in that sweet baby smell. She also watched that child relax completely into her father's arms with a sigh and a cuddle. "My daddy tired. Go seep." Katya patted a silver hand against Clint's cheek before wiggling out of his arms to place her Steve bear in her spot against his heart. She kissed him on the forehead with an exaggerated smacking sound. "Night-night, Daddy." 

Natasha watched the melting look on Clint's face as his daughter quite literally tucked him into bed before crawling over the blankets to stand up in front of Natasha. She knew exactly how that expression felt from the inside. Katya or Clint inspired it in her on a daily basis. She had no idea how two former spies and assassins deserved any of this, but she wouldn't give any of it back for the whole world. "Come, mama. Daddy n Stevba take nap." 

With their baby tucked against her heart, Natasha leaned down over Clint for a quick kiss and a shared smile. "Sleep tight," She ran her fingers through his hair and then over the teddy bear's ear. Clint's head shaking was fond and a little puzzled as he obediently tucked the bear tighter to his chest and closed his eyes. 

On the way out of the room Katya insisted on turning off the lights and leaving the door open just a crack. Just like they always did for her naps. It was like the little girl in her arms was trying to make her cry with just how precious she was. "So, sweetheart, what do we want to eat? And what do we want to watch?"

"Scwambled eggs." A little head tilted to the side while its owner thought about the harder question. She always wanted eggs for breakfast. But television… especially with Tony's infinite channel system. "Woony tunes… big tv." 

After most of them had officially moved into the tower, Tony had put a communal floor in near the other residential floors. A giant tv with every kind of comfy seating one could buy, a dining room that would fit a banquet, and a kitchen that rivaled most black diamond restaurants. He called it the club house. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Natasha?" 

It had taken time, but Jarvis had finally gotten less formal with all of them. "Is anyone using the club house TV at the moment?"

"Yes. But Steve and Bucky are already watching Looney Tunes and have expressed an interest in red-headed company this morning." 

Every inch of a tiny body heard and understood every word. Katya was practically vibrating her way out of Natasha's arms. "Uncas Buck n Stevba? Mama, pwease?" 

"Come on, sweetheart, let's go see your uncles." Katya insisted on pushing the button herself in the elevator and the second the doors open she was wiggling down to the floor and running towards the TV room. 

"Uncas? Uncas?" Tiny feet skidded around a corner. "Unca Buck? Unca Stevba?" The girl slowed, her steps suddenly went careful and stealthy. "Come out, come out, whever you are…" Natasha didn't bother trying to catch up. The happy squeal a moment later meant her little ninja princess had indeed found one of them. "Unca Buck, Unca Buck, Unca Buck." 

She turned the corner to see her baby girl using a two handed grip on Bucky's metal fingers to brace her free climb up his body to her normal spot draped across his metal shoulder with her arms wrapped around his neck. "See, mama, Unca Buck." It was smooth and easy, the same way she'd been climbing all her uncles since before she could walk. 

"Yup, you found him, baby girl. Where's your uncle Steve?" 

"He's in the kitchen, making scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee." Bucky, the former Winter Soldier and Captain America's best sniper, looked at the girl using him as her personal playground with the softest of smiles and the gentlest of touches. "Is my ninja princess hungry for eggs and bacon?" 

"Yup, yup. Yummm." 

"Good. Come on, Mama. We should make sure Steve's making real coffee for us and not that Stark high caffeine latte crap." Natasha slid under the arm Bucky wrapped around her shoulders and tangled her fingers in red curls falling over a metal shoulder.

"Enough hazelnut and that latte crap is actually pretty good." Natasha smiled up at him. "Mocha's even better." 

"Chocowate, unca Buck? Hazunut hot chocowate?" Katya somehow climbed even higher to straddle the back of Bucky's neck, tiny hands holding fistfuls of his hair like horsy reins. Tiny feet were even bouncing gently against his collarbones with each step he took.

"Whipped cream or marshmallows?" 

Every inch of her daughter heard and responded to the voice in the doorway. Of course, she adored her uncle Stevba just that much. "Unca Stevba!" Then the little girl was standing on a metal shoulder to take a flying leap straight out in the air without a second of hesitation. If you thought about it logically, none of her many Uncles had ever let her fall. Not once. 

And this was no exception. Steve snatched her out of midair, tossed her up high for an extra giggle before tucking her in tight against a broad chest for a kiss and a cuddle. "There's my ninja princess. How is my baby girl today?"

"I not a baby. I a big girl, Unca Stevba." The oh-so-serious two year old looked tiny against that chest, her arms barely long enough to wrap around his neck. She looked even tinier when big hands found her ticklish spots and she kicked and squealed in his arms.

"You're not my baby girl, sweetie? Why aren't you my baby anymore?" Steve dug his fingertips into baby ribs while ever so carefully keeping her twisting body braced against his heart. "Don't you love me, Katya? What did I do to make my best girl angry?" 

"Unca… Unca Stevba, pwease…. pweeeeease, Unca Stevba!" She tried desperately to wiggle away from his fingers to bury herself under his chin, like he somehow couldn't tickle her if she was wrapped around his neck. It didn't work and even her stubborn little girl couldn't withstand the torture forever. "I your baby girl, pwease Unca. I your baby girl!" Natasha watched her daughter relax into Captain America's arms when the tickling stopped and gave the man a breathless and brilliant smile. "Whip cweam, pwease." 

"Yes, ma'am. Coming right up." Steve carried the little girl to the kitchen table and deposited her on her feet in her personal chair. It wasn't a normal high chair because Katya was a 'big girl' and 'big girls' didn't sit in a 'baby chair'. So Tony had made her a chair that looked almost exactly like all the normal adult chairs but on a smaller and taller scale. "Your throne, mi'lady." 

Natasha leaned into the arm around her shoulders, close enough to feel Bucky's ribs move with a sigh just like her own. "They are the cutest things in the world, aren't they, Tash?"

"Yeah, they are, Buck. And it would be so much easier to resist those giant puppy eyes of theirs if either of them didn't know it." She shook her head as Bucky pulled out a chair for her and both sat down near their cute counterparts at one end of the table. "But they do know it."

Bucky laughed and passed the plate of bacon across the table. "They absolutely know it. Got us wrapped around their fingers like ribbons." She watched Bucky's eyes go all liquid melty love-filled and followed his gaze. Steve was setting a plate of scrambled eggs and toast next to a mug in front of her little girl before running strong fingers through red curls. Katya thanked him with a smacking kiss on his cheek and a little curtsey before she dropped hard on her bottom and Steve pushed her chair in closer to the table. 

And now it was Natasha's turn to go all melty when her little red-head turned that bright smile on her. "Pass bacon, mama, pwease…" 

Oh yeah, this was a world and a place and a family that Natasha Romanov-Barton would never, ever give up even a piece of. This was home. "Here you go, my princess."

000


	2. Medicinal Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is another installment of Avengers' Fluffidom. This morning it's Clint's turn to marvel (ha ha, I'm punny) over the perfection that is child, home and family. Clint/Natasha and Bruce/Betty.

Title: A Place to Call Home  
By AnitaB  
Chapter: Medicinal Heat  
Author's Notes: Own nothing, make nothing, have nothing worth winning in a lawsuit. This is another installment of Avengers' Fluffidom. This morning it's Clint's turn to marvel (ha ha, I'm punny) over the perfection that is child, home and family.

Medicinal Heat  
by AnitaB

His chest was cold. That was his first thought upon waking. Not the time of day which he could calculate from the angle of the light hitting his closed eyelids. Not the soreness of the skin around the fresh stitches on his back. Not the shadow of his best bow leaning up against the window. 

His chest was cold and it shouldn't be. Clint had gotten home from a hell of a day at the end of a longer week in the mission field and immediately crawled into bed with his two favorite red-heads. Natasha had immediately curled into his side and his little Katya had ninja'ed her way into her favorite spot sprawled over his ribs without even waking up. The warmth of his ladies pressed close and safe had simply washed away the last of the tension from his muscles. 

He could only be delighted with any damn day that ended with the most important people in his world safe and in his arms. Even when he had fresh wounds. 

But now his chest was cold. Someone had stolen his ninja princess and Clint hadn't cuddled her enough yet. Not that he ever got enough Katya kisses or cuddles. His little girl was the best medicine in the world. Clint was planning to steal her back even before he opened his eyes. //I want my Katya.\\\ 

When he did open his eyes, it was to find one of his favorite red-heads was still in arm's length. Natasha was wearing one of his old t-shirts as her only pjs, curled on her side. He was still going to retrieve Katya from whoever in their crazy little family combo had taken her, but first… Clint rolled to his side and dragged Natasha into the line of his ribs, her back pressed tight to his chest. Not a single ounce of tension entered the strong lines and curves of her body when he pulled her close. Natasha's instinctive trust and awareness of him brought a low chuckle to his throat. 

"Hmm, Clint. You should know better than to surprise a woman like that." She might have been complaining about it, but every inch of her body was pressing back tighter against his skin. "I'm usually armed."

"You sleep in my arms, Tasha, your subconscious knows me by now or I'd already be dead a dozen times over." Clint kissed the line of her neck and slipped his fingers between hers. "These deadly hands know my every weak spot but all they ever do is bandage my wounds." 

She turned her head enough to let him get to her lips for a slow, careful kiss. "Speaking of that, how many stitches are in the wound on your back? And should I harangue you into letting someone look at it again?" 

"I'm fine, Tash. But I'll have Bruce look at it later if you want." His soft-hearted assassin turned just enough in his arms to stroke careful fingertips along a bruise on his jaw. "But first I'm still not caught up on my quota of princess cuddles. Where's our baby girl?"

"Where our baby girl always is if she isn't with one of us." Clint nodded against her shoulder and joined in on the next half of the answer. "With one of her uncles." 

"Jarvis, where's my baby girl?" The window before their eyes turned into a view screen with an image of the club house. Sitting in the middle of the sofa was Doctor Bruce Banner with Katya on his lap holding one of her favorite books. 

"Do da voice, unca Buce, pwease…" 

Bruce cuddled the little girl closer with a smile before looking down into the book. A sharp sound cleared his throat before he said in a near perfect imitation, "Puny God." 

Little Katya exploded into high, bright giggles, clinging to Bruce's wrist to stay put between his arms. "Again, unca Buce, again." 

Book abandoned, Bruce tightened his arms around Katya, tucked tickling fingers into her ribs and proceeded to impersonate the 'other guy' to increasing amounts of laughter. Even with Natasha tucked against his chest, Clint was still feeling a very specific shaped coldness over his heart. "I need my Katya fix. Want to come with me to steal back our princess or wait here?" 

"You got some sleep on the flight back. Your Katya refused to settle down until about an hour before you got home. I'm going back to sleep. You and Katya are welcome to come take a nap with me anytime." Natasha claimed his pillow and rolled onto her stomach against it. "Convince her to eat something before you bring her back." The words were interrupted by a yawn and a stretch that made him want to run his fingers through her hair. "If Bruce hasn't fed her already." 

Clint tucked the blankets up higher around her body and let himself stroke her hair and steal a soft kiss. "Sleep now, love. I'll get our girl some breakfast and my quota of Katya cuddles for the morning. Be back soon." 

Another brush of his lips over her forehead got him a soft smile and the complete relaxation of her body as she obeyed, already fast asleep while wrapped around his pillow.

Clint left the door cracked and made his way to the club house. His chest ached with the cold all the way up the elevator and through the halls to the edge of the TV room. //There's my ninja princess.\\\ Betty had joined Bruce and Katya on the couch and was doing a rather good impression that was very familiar. "I don't see how that's a party." 

"Agin, aun' Beddy, agin." 

The ache in his ribs somehow sharpened and eased at the same time at the sound of his baby girl laughing. //That's my pretty girl.\\\ Nothing in the world was more beautiful than that little girl. And there was absolutely nothing in his entire existence that made him more proud than the simple fact that he had any part of bringing someone that perfect into the world.

And then she caught sight of him in the doorway. "Daddy!" 

His Katya was always without question the brightest glow in the room. She was the moon, the sun and the stars: the center of his universe. But when he saw that glow get miraculously brighter and knew that he was the cause… Clint Barton didn't know how he managed to breathe around the love and pride welling up in his chest. //That's my girl!\\\ 

A tiny red-head crossed the room to him glowing brighter than the sun and moving as fast as little legs could carry her. Clint caught her mid-flying leap and helped her bury herself in his chest. Tiny arms wrapped strangling tight around his neck, but that didn't stop him from burying his face in her neck for a deep breath of sweet baby smell. "Morning, my princess." Now, now he was finally warm from head to toe. Now he was really home and nothing hurt. 

"Hi, Daddy." Every inch of her body pressed closer in a completely relaxed sprawled of heat against his heart. "My daddy." After a few more perfect moments of warmth, Katya pushed off his shoulder to rest tiny hands on his face. Little fingers traced the bruise on his jaw with the same careful stroke as her mother. "Ouwie, kiss better?" He nodded with a smile and angled his chin to invite the best medicine in the world closer. Katya cupped tiny hands at the point of his chin and planted several whisper soft kisses over the bruise before pulling back and giving him a bright smile.

"Thanks, sweetie. I'm all better now." Clint pressed a kiss to her forehead and tucked her back in against his chest for one more perfect cuddle. "Is my ninja princess hungry?" 

"Hmmm… yup, yup. Daddy make pancake shapes? And bacon?" For that smile Clint would make banana splits 365 days a year or figure eight funnel cakes. Or anything else his little angel wanted to eat. 

"No scrambled eggs?" Clint buried his fingers in the softest of red curls to keep his blushing little girl from hiding under his chin. "Did you somehow trade places with my princess? Because my princess always wants eggs."

"Of couwse scambled eggs, Daddy. 'Cause I am your pwincess." Katya tucked herself into the crook of his shoulder to wrap both arms around his neck. "And hazunut hot chocowate, pwease, Daddy?"

"Of course, love. Anything for my princess." Clint smiled a thank you over to Bruce and Betty, both wearing time honored 'how cute' looks. "Would you like to invite your aunt and uncle to have breakfast with us?"

Still glued to his torso, little Katya turned her head to smile back at the pair. "Unca Buce n Aun' Beddie, want scambled eggs n pancake shapes wif us?"

"We'd be delighted, princess. I'll start the bacon." 

Clint led the way to the kitchen with his bundle of medicinal heat tucked right over his heart. Yup, it was good to be home.

The end.


	3. Party Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Natasha is absolutely certain that her tiny red-headed girl is going to rule the world. Soon the girl might get a little competition.

Title: A Place to Call Home  
By AnitaB  
Chapter 3: Party Planning

Author's Notes: Own nothing, make nothing, have nothing worth winning in a lawsuit.   
Sometimes Natasha is absolutely certain that her tiny red-headed girl is going to rule the world. Soon the girl might get a little competition.

A Place to call home  
by AnitaB  
Chapter 3: Party Planning

Love really was for children. Natasha shook her head and fought to keep the awe swirling in her chest off her face. That tiny little girl already wielded love and its power with the absolute best in the world. There was no need to let that beautiful little tyrant know how powerful she was.

There was no other explanation for the situation as it stood. Pepper Potts, Natasha Romanoff and little Katya were sitting at a hand-made table for their near-weekly 'redheads tea party'. International dignitaries waited weeks or months to get on Pepper's famously busy calendar. Powerful people all over the world couldn't even get Natasha's contact information. But little Katya… all she had to do to have two of the world's most powerful women come running was turn that beautiful face towards the ceiling and say "Jabis? It time for tea. Call Peppa, pwease." 

And faster than was at all reasonable, Tony dragged out the table and chairs he'd made for her second birthday to place in the one permanently clear section of his favorite lab. Pepper appeared with an antique Chinese tea set and the most delightful finger sandwiches. And Natasha… she was the weakest before those eyes of all. All it took was one "Mama, want some tea?" and Black Widow was putting the kettle on the stove and pulling out Katya's tea party dress. 

To add humiliation to weakness, Natasha didn't even resist the fake pearl necklace and the flower covered costume apron her daughter always brought to her. The equally hideous hat and floral gloves went to Pepper. And the three favorite redheads of the most powerful superhero team in the world sat down to afternoon tea.

And Tony Stark was enjoying it immensely by the constant glances and smiles he kept sending their way. Natasha was trying to be annoyed but it wasn't working at all. Katya made annoyance impossible with every little smile and the upturned crook of her littlest finger as she sipped her tea. Natasha and Pepper both helplessly smiled and matched the dainty movements and the faux proper speech of their little tyrant. 

"Unca Tone, would you like some tea?" Little Katya smiled at the billionaire genius who knelt at the side of her chair to accept a tiny cup and plate. Tony nuzzled his scruff into the line of a tiny neck until he got a giggle and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek.

"My thanks, sweet lady." Tony Stark gave the little girl a magazine-worthy smile and a head bow before taking a delicate bite of sandwich and a pinkie-out sip of tea. "Delicious, Katya. Thank you." 

Natasha watched her baby girl smile and cuddle sweetly into Tony's shoulder in her dress and tiara. Stark and his charm were at work again. And she should find it annoying but simply couldn't. Tony was charming and Katya adored him just like she adored all her aunts and uncles. And that former drunken playboy was wrapped so tightly around tiny little fingers that Katya might as well wear him like her gumball machine rings. Tony Stark would move heaven, Earth and Asgard to make sure her baby girl was safe and happy. How could Natasha mind in the slightest?

Katya practically melted under the stroke of Tony's fingers through her curls, little fingers closing around a fistful of his shirt to keep him close. Natasha couldn't help but hear and echo Pepper's little sigh at the sight on the other side of the table. Those two people were trying to melt her heart right out of her chest. Until…

"I updated the best of our harness designs." 

Tony didn't even finish the sentence before Katya had climbed right out of her chair and up his arm to sit across the back of his neck. "Mama, go fwying wif Unca Tone. Pwease!" Engineer hands caught at baby knees to help balance the girl as two sets of pleading eyes turned to Natasha.

"Yeah, mama. Please!"

The answer was going to be yes. There really was no doubt about that. But what was in question was how long she and Pepper were going to make the two begging cuties wait for that yes. "Uh… I don't know, Pepper, what do you think? The weather isn't that good for flying today."

The red head at her side smiled and played along to the increasing bouncing of the babies in front of them. "You might be right, Natasha. Jarvis was tracking a few storm clouds over the city this morning." 

"Aun' Payppa, pweeeeaaaase!" Natasha bit back a smile at the matching puppy eyes both people were laying on so damn thick. Tony and Katya even had their hands folded in matching begging poses. Though Tony still had Katya's ankles trapped safely behind his wrists to keep the tiny girl balanced. It was unbearably precious. 

"Oh, alright. Tony, you can take Katya flying if her mother says it's okay." 

The stack of hopefulness now turned those eyes back to her and Natasha failed at holding back the smile. Sliding one set of fingers into red curls, she nodded. "Ok, my darlings, you can go flying. But I want to see this new harness first. Get suited up and meet us on the roof." The hug she got from Tony lifted her off her feet for a moment that Katya spent planting a kiss on her check. Then the two disappeared, still stacked, into the back of Tony's lab to get changed into their suits.

Natasha turned to Pepper and started untying her hideous apron. "Shall we head upstairs?"

"Of course," Pepper stripped off the hat and gloves and led the way to the elevator. "There's something wrong with just how little resistance we have to those puppy eyes." 

Natasha smiled and nodded as they moved into the doors Jarvis opened for them. "Yes, yes there is something seriously frightening about their begging powers. The roof please, Jarvis. In a few years, my baby girl is going to run the world with those chubby cheeks and bright eyes." 

"And since the men in our lives show no sign of becoming immune anytime soon, she's already running the most powerful group of superheroes on the planet." Pepper's voice took on an extra edge of laughter. "One bat of those baby girl lashes and Tony would invent anything she wanted or change the world's economy for her birthday present."

Natasha stepped out on the roof and turned to watch Pepper's face. "Yeah, you ever plan to give him a baby of his own to spoil rotten?" The move was just in time. Pepper's lips had twisted into an involuntary little smile and one hand rested low against her stomach in a gesture that no mother could possibly misunderstand. "Really? There's going to be a mini-stark in the Tower? Is there any level of child-proofing capable of handling that?"

"Yes, yes, and I have no idea." Pepper let both her hands fold against her stomach, and the smile became a much less restrained curve. "Watching him with Katya… we went off birth control months ago. The tests came back positive over a week ago. We're actually pregnant." 

If someone asked her, Natasha wasn't sure she could accurately describe the next few seconds. But it clearly involved some particularly girly hugging and her hand resting on a soon to be not flat stomach. "How is Tony not shouting it from the rooftops or broadcasting it planetwide? I know he must be happy enough to lose all reason and whatever self-control he ever had."

Pepper's eyes dropped and happiness and love curved her lips. "He is and he wanted to. And in a few more weeks we're planning to make a much more sedate and restricted announcement than Tony wants. But this time he's going to be more careful about what he shares and who he shares it with." Her head angled towards the bulk of the building at their backs. "We've spent way too much time decorating that nursery for him to let anyone blow it up." 

Natasha found herself smiling. Tony did love designing for the people he loved and the tiny bundle of shared DNA growing behind Pepper's belly button was going to be number one on the genius billionaire's "Spoil Rotten" list for the next 18 years to well… honestly… forever. The Stark-Potts child was going to be high on a lot of people's "Spoil Rotten" lists, hers and Clint's included. "And when did the two of you plan on telling all of us about the upcoming arrival?" Pepper, of course, could hear the little edge of darkness in her voice. Natasha wasn't fond of secrets, not inside the family at least. 

"This weekend. We have a pre-natal visit Friday so we'd have sonogram pictures for all the baby's aunts and uncles at Saturday's cookout. Emergencies permitting, of course." Pepper stepped in close and pressed Natasha's hand against her stomach. "We are not hiding this from our family. But somehow I thought it would be Tony to crack and spill the surprise first." 

Natasha laughed and pulled Pepper back into a hug. "He didn't get interrogated by the Black Widow this time. Believe me, that makes a big difference." The smiles on both their faces matched when the women pulled back. "I can try to keep your kitten in the bag for a few more days, though I am admittedly horrible at hiding anything from Clint. Or…"

"Or… or what, Natasha?" 

"Or we could tell my Katya and watch her fly a circle around the city without the need for an Iron Suit and you can have her tell the rest of the aunts and uncles in what would be a most adorable fashion in the next few hours. That baby girl will be soo excited to be getting a cousin."

"You have a point. Katya would be a simply precious messenger. And we could get everyone together this evening for an unplanned family party." Pepper's eyes slid to the elevator doors as they opened before she gave Natasha a wide, almost relieved smiled. "Go tell our messenger when you check their harness. Tony's dying to celebrate this and so am I."

"There will be so much celebrating going on for the next 8 months. Longer." Natasha held Pepper's hand tight for a moment before turning to meet Tony and Katya on their way off the elevator. No longer stacked for the moment, Ironman led a tiny Iron Suited toddler by the hand. 

But Katya's suit was silver and purple instead of red and gold. "Well, mama, we're ready for our preflight check." He went to one knee while Katya climbed into her spot on his upper back, hooking her hands and feet into specially made grips. Both held still while Natasha closed and double checked all the fasteners that attached the mini-suit into place on Tony's back-plate. "Jarvis, safety check, please." 

The disembodied voice ran through the numbers and safety measures in place before wrapping up with a fond, "Have a good flight, Miss Katya." 

"Thank you, Jabis." Little Katya settled more comfortably into the line of Ironman's back and a little helmet turned to her mother. "Ready to go fwying, mama? Go for launch?" 

"Just a moment, sweetheart. First I need to say something to your uncle Tony." 

Uncle Tony's body language managed to scream both puzzlement and worry even through the suit. "What did I do this time, Natasha? Isn't the harness better?"

"You did just fine… daddy. Everything is perfect." 

Tony started to respond but Katya beat him to the punch. "Unca Tone gonna be a daddy? Aun' Peppa gonna be a mama? I gonna be a cousin!" If the harness hadn't been buckled down tight already, Katya would've flown off all by herself. Even so firmly attached to his back, Katya managed to bounce with joy and wrap both metal arms around his neck. "We's gonna have a baby! Thank you, Unca Tone." A little silver and purple arm reached out towards Pepper, who automatically stepped close enough to take an ironsuited hand. "Thank you, Aun' Peppa. I gonna be the best cousin eva', I pwomise." 

Pepper ran an affectionate touch down the side of a silver and purple helmet. But then she did have a lot of practice showing affection through a suit. "I know you will be, sweetheart. And when you get back from your flight, your first cousin duty is to tell the other aunts and uncles about the baby." 

Tony slid enough of his face plate out of the way to pull Pepper into a careful hug and a deep kiss, somehow still smiling so wide that Natasha could've counted his teeth. "We'll be right back, mama. And we finally get to tell everybody." One metal hand rested carefully against Pepper's stomach as he pulled her back into a kiss. "I love you both so damn much, Pepper."

Natasha was helplessly smiling at the sight of Tony "former manwhore" Ironman absolutely melting with love and devotion to one woman and their child. Yup, watching him navigate fatherhood was going to be so much fun. And the show could begin as soon as the Iron pair came back from their afternoon flight. "Get flying, Iron Boy, we've got a family party to plan when you get back."

Tony pressed one more kiss to Pepper's lips before pulling back with a smile that could power the building. "Yes, mama Natasha." There was one more careful but tight hug before Tony finally let Pepper back out of his arms with the stroke of a gauntlet over her waist. "Come on, baby girl. Ready to fly?" 

"Yup, yup, papa Tone. Go for fwying." The pair stepped off the roof stacked and Jarvis played the comm channel through speakers around the launch pad as usual. Katya's laughter and happy screaming was par for the course.

Yup, the family party today was going to be good. There was a lot to get ready for.

000


End file.
